Article #311-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Bunner Sisters, by Edith Wharton

In the days when New York's traffic moved at the pace of the drooping
horse-car, when society applauded Christine Nilsson at the Academy of
Music and basked in the sunsets of the Hudson River School on the walls
of the National Academy of Design, an inconspicuous shop with a
single show-window was intimately and favourably known to the feminine
population of the quarter bordering on Stuyvesant Square.

It was a very small shop, in a shabby basement, in a side-street
already doomed to decline; and from the miscellaneous display behind the
window-pane, and the brevity of the sign surmounting it (merely “Bunner
Sisters” in blotchy gold on a black ground) it would have been difficult
for the uninitiated to guess the precise nature of the business carried
on within. But that was of little consequence, since its fame was so
purely local that the customers on whom its existence depended were
almost congenitally aware of the exact range of “goods” to be found at
Bunner Sisters'.

The house of which Bunner Sisters had annexed the basement was a private
dwelling with a brick front, green shutters on weak hinges, and a
dress-maker's sign in the window above the shop. On each side of its
modest three stories stood higher buildings, with fronts of brown stone,
cracked and blistered, cast-iron balconies and cat-haunted grass-patches
behind twisted railings. These houses too had once been private, but now
a cheap lunchroom filled the basement of one, while the other announced
itself, above the knotty wistaria that clasped its central balcony, as
the Mendoza Family Hotel. It was obvious from the chronic cluster
of refuse-barrels at its area-gate and the blurred surface of its
curtainless windows, that the families frequenting the Mendoza Hotel
were not exacting in their tastes; though they doubtless indulged in
as much fastidiousness as they could afford to pay for, and rather more
than their landlord thought they had a right to express.

Explanation

Edith Wharton’s Bunner Sisters (1916) is a novella that explores the lives of two spinster sisters, Ann Eliza and Evelina Bunner, who run a small, struggling shop in late 19th-century New York. The excerpt provided serves as the opening of the story, establishing the setting, atmosphere, and social context in which the sisters’ lives unfold. Wharton, known for her sharp social commentary and intricate portrayals of class, gender, and urban decay, uses this passage to introduce themes of obscurity, economic precarity, and the fading remnants of a bygone era. Below is a detailed breakdown of the excerpt, focusing on its textual nuances, literary devices, and broader significance.

Context and Setting

The story is set in New York City in the 1870s or 1880s, a period of rapid urbanization and social change. Wharton contrasts the nostalgic, cultured past (embodied by references to horse-drawn streetcars, the opera singer Christine Nilsson, and the Hudson River School of painting) with the gritty, declining present of the sisters’ neighborhood near Stuyvesant Square. This juxtaposition underscores the transience of social status and the encroachment of modernity, themes central to Wharton’s work.

The Bunner Sisters’ shop is a microcosm of this decline—a small, obscure business in a "shabby basement" on a "side-street already doomed to decline." The shop’s anonymity ("merely 'Bunner Sisters' in blotchy gold") reflects the sisters’ own social invisibility. Their customers are local women who know the shop by reputation, suggesting a closed, insular world where survival depends on word-of-mouth rather than broader recognition.

Themes

Obscurity and Marginalization
- The shop is "inconspicuous" and its purpose unclear to outsiders, mirroring the sisters’ own unremarkable existence. Their lives are defined by limited social and economic mobility, a common fate for unmarried women of modest means in the 19th century.
- The phrase "its fame was so purely local" emphasizes their confinement to a small, fading world. Their relevance exists only within a shrinking circle, foreshadowing their eventual erasure.
Urban Decay and Class Stratification
- The neighborhood is in decline: the once-private houses now host a "cheap lunchroom" and the Mendoza Family Hotel, a boarding house with "curtainless windows" and "refuse-barrels" hinting at poverty and neglect.
- The contrast between the sisters’ shop and the surrounding buildings (e.g., the "brown stone, cracked and blistered" facades) symbolizes the crumbling of old New York under industrialization and immigration. The "cat-haunted grass-patches" and "knotty wistaria" evoke a decaying, almost gothic atmosphere, where nature and urban blight intertwine.
- The Mendoza Hotel’s tenants are implied to be working-class or immigrant families, "not exacting in their tastes," suggesting they accept squalor as a necessity. This reflects Wharton’s critique of class hierarchies and the illusion of social mobility.
The Illusion of Respectability
- The shop’s ambiguous display ("miscellaneous goods") and the dressmaker’s sign above it hint at the sisters’ struggle to maintain a veneer of respectability. Their business is neither clearly defined nor prosperous, yet they cling to their modest dignity.
- The green shutters on weak hinges and the brick front of the house suggest a fragile, outdated gentility, much like the sisters themselves.
Time and Transience
- The opening lines evoke a lost era (horse-cars, Nilsson’s operas, Hudson River School paintings), contrasting with the present decay. This temporal shift underscores the inevitability of change and the sisters’ inability to adapt.
- The shop’s location in a basement—literally and metaphorically underground—symbolizes their buried, forgotten existence.

Literary Devices

Imagery and Sensory Detail
- Visual: The "blotchy gold" sign, "cracked and blistered" brownstone, and "curtainless windows" create a gritty, worn aesthetic. The "knotty wistaria" clinging to the balcony suggests persistent but stifled life, much like the sisters.
- Tactile: The "weak hinges" of the shutters and the "blurred surface" of the windows evoke physical decay, reinforcing the theme of decline.
- Olfactory/Implied: The "refuse-barrels" and "cat-haunted" areas suggest unpleasant smells and neglect, immersing the reader in the squalor.
Irony and Contrast
- The grand cultural references (Nilsson, Hudson River School) contrast sharply with the shabby reality of the shop, highlighting the gap between aspiration and reality.
- The Mendoza Hotel’s name (suggesting Spanish or Latin American origins) ironically contrasts with its squalid conditions, critiquing the American myth of opportunity.
Symbolism
- The basement shop: Represents the sisters’ low social status and their buried potential.
- The Hudson River School sunsets: Symbolize a romanticized past, now faded, much like the sisters’ hopes.
- The wistaria: A climbing plant that strangles as much as it adorns, symbolizing the constrictive nature of their environment.
Foreshadowing
- The shop’s ambiguous goods and localized fame hint at the sisters’ limited future prospects.
- The doomed side-street foreshadows the inevitable closure of their shop and their eventual obscurity.
Tone and Diction
- The tone is detached yet pitying, typical of Wharton’s narrative voice. Words like "inconspicuous," "shabby," and "doomed" create a melancholic atmosphere.
- The precise, almost clinical descriptions (e.g., "cast-iron balconies," "twisted railings") lend a realist edge, grounding the story in historical specificity.

Significance of the Passage

This opening establishes the central conflict of Bunner Sisters: the struggle for survival in a changing world. The sisters are relics of a fading era, clinging to their small shop as the city around them modernizes and leaves them behind. Wharton uses their story to explore:

The plight of unmarried women in a society that offers them few options.
The harsh realities of urban poverty and the illusion of the American Dream.
The tension between tradition and progress, a recurring theme in her work (e.g., The Age of Innocence).

The excerpt also introduces Wharton’s critique of social invisibility. The sisters’ shop is known only to a "feminine population" in a "quarter bordering on Stuyvesant Square"—a limited, female-centric world that reflects the constricted lives of women in the 19th century. Their story is one of quiet desperation, a counterpoint to the grand narratives of wealth and success that dominated the Gilded Age.

Conclusion

This passage is a masterclass in social realism, using vivid imagery, irony, and symbolism to paint a portrait of two women trapped in a decaying urban landscape. Wharton’s unflinching eye for detail and her subtle critique of class and gender make Bunner Sisters a poignant exploration of obscurity, resilience, and the crushing weight of societal change. The shop’s "inconspicuous" nature mirrors the sisters’ own lives—overlooked, underappreciated, and ultimately forgotten, yet briefly illuminated by Wharton’s empathetic prose.

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s description of the Mendoza Family Hotel’s "chronic cluster of refuse-barrels" and "blurred surface of its curtainless windows" serves primarily to:

A. underscore the hotel’s role as a haven for artists and bohemians who reject bourgeois aesthetics.
B. illustrate the economic precarity of the neighborhood’s inhabitants through tangible markers of neglect.
C. contrast the hotel’s exterior with the Bunner sisters’ meticulously maintained shopfront.
D. suggest that the hotel’s residents are deliberately sabotaging the property to avoid rent increases.
E. imply that the hotel is a temporary refuge for transients, unlike the permanent residency of the Bunner sisters.

Question 2

The phrase "its fame was so purely local" carries an implicit critique of:

A. the sisters’ failure to advertise their business effectively in broader markets.
B. the insularity of New York’s upper-class social circles during the Gilded Age.
C. the decline of small businesses due to the rise of department stores and industrialization.
D. the superficiality of consumer culture, which values novelty over craftsmanship.
E. the limited horizons available to women whose social and economic mobility is constrained by gender and class.

Question 3

The "knotty wistaria" clinging to the Mendoza Hotel’s balcony functions most effectively as a symbol of:

A. the enduring beauty of nature amid urban decay, offering a counterpoint to the passage’s bleakness.
B. the romanticized past, much like the Hudson River School paintings, now overgrown and forgotten.
C. the immigrant experience, as wistaria is non-native and thus mirrors the Mendoza family’s origins.
D. persistence in adversity, its tangled growth reflecting the stubborn survival of the neighborhood’s inhabitants.
E. the sisters’ own emotional entanglement with their shop, which they cannot escape or prune away.

Question 4

The narrator’s observation that the Mendoza Hotel’s residents "doubtless indulged in as much fastidiousness as they could afford to pay for" reveals an underlying assumption about:

A. the inherent dignity of poverty, which the residents uphold despite their circumstances.
B. the landlord’s greed, which forces tenants to prioritize rent over basic comforts.
C. the performative nature of class, where aesthetic standards are a luxury tied to economic means.
D. the futility of aspiring to middle-class respectability in a neighborhood in irreversible decline.
E. the moral failure of the residents, who squander their limited resources on frivolous preferences.

Question 5

The passage’s juxtaposition of Christine Nilsson’s operas and the Hudson River School sunsets with the Bunner sisters’ "inconspicuous shop" is primarily intended to:

A. highlight the cultural deprivation of the sisters, who are unaware of the artistic achievements of their era.
B. emphasize the gap between the romanticized past and the grim reality of the sisters’ present circumstances.
C. suggest that the sisters’ shop once catered to a wealthier clientele but has since declined in status.
D. critique the elitism of high culture, which excludes working-class women like the Bunner sisters.
E. foreshadow the sisters’ eventual escape from poverty through an unexpected connection to the arts.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: B

Why B is most correct: The "refuse-barrels" and "blurred curtainless windows" are concrete, sensory details that evoke material deprivation. Wharton uses these images to ground the neighborhood’s decline in tangible signs of neglect, reinforcing the economic precarity of its inhabitants. This aligns with the passage’s broader focus on urban decay and the sisters’ marginalized existence.